Process for drying hides.



W. H. ALLEN. PROCESS FOR DRYING HIDES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1913.

Patented 001114, 1913.

FIBRE WITNESSES.-

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WILLIAM H. ALLEN, OF DETROIT, MICHIqrAN.

PROCESS FOR DRYING HIDES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 6 14, 1 913,

Application filed January 31, 1913. Serial No. 745,319.

Toull whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Arman, a citizen of theUnited States, anda-resident of Detroit, in the county of'Wayne an advance over theprocess disclosed in myv former Patent No. 1,009,881, dated Nov.28th,1911.

This invention consists of a process for drying fibrous material such ashides, comprising ,two steps; first, stretching the hides while wet on afiat plate to which they will adhere until they become dry; and second,causing a current of air or other vapor-ab sorbing fluid to flow overeach hide from the center outward so that the leather will remain wetand attached to the plate along its edges while it is drying fromthe-center outward, thus insuring a retention of the full area of thestretched hide.

This process may be carried out by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which and partly 1n section, of an air pipe.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

In putting this process into use, the hide 1 shown in Fig. 2 while stillwet, and stretched the amount ,desired. The plate maybe smooth orfigured according to the desired finished. surface of the leather. Asstated in my former patent, no nails are necessary to hold thestretched-fibrous material in position, as the adhesion between the wetfibrous material and the metal plates is sufficient to hold the materialin position. If desired, the plates may be coated with lacquer orenamel.

shown in my former patent.

1 will'be placed on the plate Pressing the fibrousmaterial against theplates, as by means of rollers, conduces to the adhesion. If desired,the fibrous material may be covered with the porous mats The plates maythen be placed in arack consisting of posts 3 and side strips orsupports 4 between the posts, on which the plates 2 rest. Ad-

jacent the rack is a pipe 5, of any desired construction, from which theflat pipes 6 extend between the plates above the hides to the middle ofthe hides, as indicated in Fig.

1. An opening 7 in the bottom of each pipe 6 permits air or othermoisture-absorbing fluid to escape at the middle of the hide, whence thefluid flows out between the plates 1. The'moisture-absorbing fluidsaturates itself as soon as possible, resulting in the hide dryin firstat the center. As theedges cling to t e supporting plate, the material.

cannot shrink intermediate the edges, and as a result, the hide when drywill have substantially. the same area as whenstretched wet.

While the preferred method of causing a current of moisture-absorbingfluid to'radiate over the hide from the opening 7 will be to connect thepipe 5 to a source of air under pressure, this is not necessary, as thepipe 5 may connect to the outer air and the apparatus may be in a closedcase9, indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 4, from which air may be drawninany desired manner. The upper plate 16 may be stationary. The

distance between the plates should be small,

' wet on a-fiat plate andcausing moisture-absorbing fluid to pass overthe same from the center outward.

2. The process of drying fibrous material which consists-in stretchingthe samewhile wet on flat plates, stacking the plates parallel to eachother and close together, and conducting currents of moisture-absorbingmaterial to substantially the middle of the plates so that it will passout between the' plates in all directions.

3-. The process of drying fibrous material which consists in stretchingthe same while wet on a flat plate and then absorbing the moisture fromthe material by a proper fluid, beginning at substantially the center ofthe fibrous material and then continuing toward the edges.

4. The process of drying hides which consists in stretching the hide ona flat plate, placing the plate adjacent another which is ofsubstantially the same size and spaced a short distance from it, andconducting a cur rent of air to the middle of the hide so the I middleof the hide will dry first and the drying of the hide will continuetowardv the edges which will adhere to the plate until dried.

In testimony whereof I have signed this 15 specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses \YILLIAM I-I. ALLEN. WVitnesses:

EDWARD N. PAGnLsnN, HUGO W. KRnINnnING.

